quote [ Herring gulls were presented with two identical food items -- one of which they had seen a human holding. The gulls pecked more often at the handled food, suggesting they use human actions when deciding what to eat. The University of Exeter study follows previous research which found that staring at seagulls makes them less likely to steal food.

"Our study shows that cues from humans may play an important part in the way gulls find food, and could partly explain why gulls have been successful in colonising urban areas." ]